Rating: 
Summary: I really wanted to like this book...
Review: I had read (and liked) THE ALIENIST, and I also enjoy near-future sci-fi, so I was looking forward to reading this book. However, there wasn't much to it. Most of the first two-thirds of the book are spent explaining the history of the world over the next thirty years, and not as seamlessly as one would hope. At one point I had to ask myself what the heck was happening, because it had seemed so long since anything actually HAD happened. While the message the book it trying to convey is important, the message gets lost amid the confusing story, bland characters, and questionable science.For a similar style of book, but much better written, check out NATURE'S END, by Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka, if you can find it. (it's out of print)
Rating: 
Summary: dissapointing novel, interesting essay
Review: Killing Time is the first Carr novel I have read, and I must say I probably will not read the others. To start, I agree with many of the other reviewers in the opinion that the characters and their development were the biggest problem with the novel, They bland and two-dimentional enough that at times I couldn't tell many of them apart -- and it didn't really matter to the story if I didn't. For the most part they were either mouthpieces or soundingboards for the books philisophical roots, with no real life of their own. The attempt to imbue Larissa with any humanity by making her wear the "I was the victim of incest" hat was especially annoying. With characters lacking so much, the plot could also be considered abyssmal. It is full of devices which drag out situations beyond reason in order to prolong the predictable suspense. Many parts, and especially the ending have major problems (excuse me, mr. carr, there seems to be a novel in your plot holes). It may be that some of the offenses to the book's pacing stem from the serial publication, but one only has to read dickens or, more recently, banana yoshimoto to know that this is not inevitable. This said, the book is pretty much a failure as a novel. I gave it three stars only because many of the ideas were interesting and entertaining (the haoxes, the analog archipelego). Butthe books' flaw is that the elements of its story are simply vessels for these ideas, with no value of their own. So -- the book would have made a good, lively essay and could have kept many of the fun elements if Carr had so chosen. As is, it does seem like an early draft of a novel from a college workshop.
Rating: 
Summary: Is Carr Trying To Get Out of His Contract?
Review: As a big fan of The Alienist and Angel of Darkness, I forkedout [the money] the second I saw this book. I'd love to run into Mr. Carr in person and ask him face to face for my money back. I have never seen a such an extreme plummet in quality from a favorite author. Did the same man write this book? It is so flat and so tacky and 2 dimensional I couldn't make it past the first 75 pages. I'll be visiting the library to check out Mr. Carr's next book. If you're still not convinced, I'll sell you my copy for a dollar.
Rating: 
Summary: Read this book . . .and pass it on
Review: I have heard both side of the aisle on this one! I say, read it. Read it and then give it to someone else to read. Carr's theme of "information is not knowledge" should be the most pressing concern of evey "wired"person's mind these days. Not simply speaking of protecting kids on the internet, "stuff" on the internet is constantly pointed to by those on the "fringe" as the real news and facts. So many people are panning this latest masterpiece because it does not following the footsteps of "The Alienist" and "The Angel of Darkness." So they say. In truth, this book holds true to what Carr has been doing all along: showing us a picture of ourselves using a different time. If he said it all in our time, the revulsion we all would, and should feel, about the current states of our age, would cut too close to the quick. This certainly is a "threshold moment" currently falling down around us. Read the book carefully, look inward, and see what I mean.
Rating:
Summary: The dangers of padding
Review: What should have remained a provocative essay for the major magazines fell prey to the desire for a little holiday money for Carr's publishers, if not Carr himself. Because it is a padded extension of that essay, spinning out a hackneyed view of Earth of the future that Carr has no idea how to make compelling or real, "Killing Time" is neither involving, nor believable (as the original essay was), nor, conversely, so fascinating a fantasy that the reader willingly loses him or herself in the story. As a result, Carr fails to contribute to his own legacy begun with The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness. Perhaps he should take a lesson from Arthur Conan Doyle. Best remembered for the Sherlock Holmes adventures, Conan Doyle attempted to wrest himself from the burden of that character with such silliness as "The Green Belt"...which attempted a fantasy in which a poisonous green belt of gas threatens the existence of all humanity...but, in the end, fails, due to the efforts of a small band of stalwart castaways. Bottom line: Don't alienate your appreciation for Caleb Carr by reading this.
Rating:
Summary: Not the Best, But Interesting
Review: I gave it 4 stars only because it presents an interesting premise. But this book is not nearly as well developed as his previous two books, maybe because it's more scifi, than historical. While the storyline kept me going, there was a lot unexplained & many times when I had to suspend my beliefs, taking it on faith that fanciful notions would make sense later in the book - sometimes they did, sometimes they did not. Overall, where I "felt" his other two books, I only "read" this one.
Rating:
Summary: dont buy this book
Review: I loved two of his books (Alienist and Angel of Darkness)... but this was awful... Don't waste your time or money...
Rating: 
Summary: Caleb's Got Something to Say
Review: This was a complete departure for Caleb Carr, but it was a great one. His style remains the same, bringing excellent prose, great plot hooks and dark, moody settings to a very serious topic: Do we consider the consequences of our technology? As a whole, I found myself ripping through the pages and read it in a brief two-day period. It is obvious after reading Killing Time that discussing technological impact on mankind is Caleb's sole mission in this book. He gives us a nightmare scenario, and reminds us of our responsibilities. He also does it in an entertaining fashion. While I may disagree with some of the points Carr makes, I feel entertained, and I also know that this book made me think, hard.... for several days. I cannot ask for more.
Rating:
Summary: Duh....
Review: Having been tickled pink by Carr's first two books, Killing Time was such a disappointment, I couldn't get past the first hundred pages.
Rating:
Summary: It's all been done before
Review: This was my first Caleb Carr novel; the writing and concept were very reminiscent of Jules Verne and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and certainly grabbed my attention. But, as the booked unfolded, I was disappoinmted in the development of the characters, the delivery of the plot, and the abrupt and anti-climactic ending. It seemed that the book was written too quickly to make an arbitraty publishing date, rather than crafted carefully for the readers' delight. All-in-all a disappointing first foray with Mr. Carr.
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